Diana Six

Personal Summary

Diana L. Six is Professor of Forest Entomology and Pathology in the Department of Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences at the University of Montana. Her primary research focuses on the evolution and maintenance of symbioses particularly those occurring among bark beetles, ambrosia beetles and fungi. Her research in this area includes several collaborative efforts with scientists in the US, South Africa, Europe, and Canada. She also conducts research on various aspects of bark beetle ecology and management, including investigations into the interactions of bark beetles with fire and forest stand structure and on interactions between an exotic pathogen (white pine blister rust) and a native insect (the mountain pine beetle) in high elevation whitebark pine ecosystems. Most recently, her focus has expanded to include effects of climate change, particularly on how changing temperatures may affect bark beetle symbioses with fungi and tree die offs in Africa.

Diana is also an associate editor for Symbiosis, Insects, the Journal of Economic Entomology, and the Western Journal of Applied Forestry .

My research is both basic and applied. On the basic end of the spectrum, my interests are primarily in understanding ectosymbioses among bark and ambrosia beetles and fungi. These associations range from mutualistic to commensal to antagonisitic, and from facultative to obligate. Some fungi are highly specific and found only in association with a single beetle species, while others can be associated with many beetle hosts. In addition, most of these symbioses are multipartite, with the host beetle associated with two or more consistent partners. Mycangia, structures of the beetle integument that function in fungal transport, have evolved numerous times in the Scolytinae. The evolution of such complex specialized structures indicates a high degree of dependence of the beetles on their fungal partners and the fungi on their beetle partners. Unfortunately, the processes that have shaped current day beetle-fungus symbioses remain only poorly understood. Because many of these associations are multipartite, it is particularly difficult to determine origins of the partners and to detect the most critical factors shaping present day symbioses. Phylogeny, the degree and type of dependence on partners, mode of transmission (vertical vs. horizontal) of symbionts, effects of the abiotic environment, and interactions among symbionts and among symbionts and other members of the biotic community have all played important roles in determining the composition, fidelity, and longevity of associations between beetles and their fungal associates. In my research, I strive to determine how evolution and ecological processes have likely acted in concert to shape these fascinating, complex symbioses.

On the applied end of the spectrum, my research focuses on bark beetle ecology in relation to fire, stand structure, forest restoration and climate change. It also has recently expanded to investigate causes behind massive die-offs of trees across the globe including whitebark pine in North America and the giant Euphorbia tree in southern Africa.

Affiliations

I am a member of several scientific societies including the Entomological Society of America, the Mycological Society of America, and the International Symbiosis Society. I sit on the Board of Directors for the Centre for Tree Health Biotechnology, Pretoria, South Africa and the Advisory Board for ISEFOR, a multi-nation, mutli-million dollar, EU-funded project on threats of exotics and climate change to European forests. I am also involved with several national and local conservation groups including Trout Unlimited (Board Member, West Slope Chapter) and Five Valleys Land Trust.

International Experience

Currently, I work several weeks each year in Africa, particulary with members of the Forest and Agriculture Biotechnology Institute (FABI) and the Centre for Tree Health Biotechnology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa. This involves applied work with commercial plantation forestry and well as with conservation of indigenous forests. In the last three years, collaborations have expanded to include NUST and the University of Burinda, Zimbabwe. Field work is exciting and includes sites in Namibia, Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Nothing like working in a rhino preserve or on the banks of the Zambezi to keep you on your toes!

Hobbies

I LOVE to hike, backpack, cross country ski, and just about anything outdoors that respects nature and the land. I am an avid fly fisher and fly tier. Bodybuilding is my way to stay healthy and get rid of stress. I like to write and paint.